Duffy, Leblanc shine as curtain falls on Habs development camp

Ben Duffy opened more than a few eyes at the Canadiens camp this past week.Courtesy Charlottetown Guardian

The Canadiens’ five-day development camp ended Sunday with an intrasquad game, and P.E.I. Rocket forward Ben Duffy made the trip to Brossard an interesting one, to say the least.

Duffy, the Rocket’s all-time leading scorer, said he hopes that his performance over the past week earns him another chance to prove himself at the Canadiens rookie camp in September, but he has a backup plan. If he doesn’t land a pro contract, he’ll take advantage of the QMJHL scholarship plan and play for the University of New Brunswick, a perennial power in Canadian university hockey.

Louis Leblanc, meanwhile, was looking much more forward than behind.

More on the camp by The Gazette’s Pat Hickey is here. A little more on Duffy from May, from the Charlottetown Guardian, is here.

926 Comments

I know that Detroit has a much different roster than the Habs, more supporting size etc… But listening to Jimmy Devellano this morning, he said that Babcock intends on having his first line be Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Alfredsson. Interesting in that not a great deal of size/protection for those guys, a pretty high talent group. It is expected that Weiss will be the 2nd line center.

Desharnais was pretty impressive in them last year. Mind you I felt that Eller….started really showing his skills in them also last year. It is promising that we should have a fairly good extra points roster this year.
As far as I know, Briere is a pretty good shoot-out player.

“I think I may have found a way for us to get Griffey and Bonds, and we really won’t have to give up much” -Costanza

bourque is predictable, he has admitted in interviews that he usually always shoots, i think gallagher also fared okay in the shootouts, and the bonus is that goalies dont have a lot of footage to watch of him.

Just an observation ….
DD relaxed when he signed for big $$$$
It’s like his life long dream had been realized …
He finally made it to the promised land
Thumbs down for signing him during the season MB
If DD doesn’t start the season flying…… move him !

I’d love someone with his skillset as a 7th D, but he’s frankly too good to sit in the pressbox, and I don’t know that I’d take any of Emelin, Bouillon, Subban, Diaz, Markov or Gorges out of the lineup to make room for him. Maybe Diaz on some nights, but with no real offence at all coming from Bouillon, Gorges, Emelin or Gill, we’d be awfully hard-pressed to provide offensive zone support from the blue line.

I love Hal Gill, and I think he can play a role really well somewhere — I just don’t know if Montreal is the place this year.

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

So I’m on Habsprospects.com and happen to see a certain tweet by @natebeaulieu towards Mike Commodore, calling him a certain denigrating term describing the female reproductive organs…

I then see Commodore asking Beaulieu if he can get an 8×10 of his mugshot… Anyone know what the issue is here? Seems to have stemmed out of nowhere. Either way, Beaulieu definitely doesn’t need any more bad press, especially by having a childish twitter fight with a wash up like Commodore.

Kid needs to grow up fast or his time here won’t last long… Else Bergevin might look to unload him for another ex-player’s son.

Edit: I dunno if Mike called him out first by taunting nate, but it looks that way, I just can’t understand this twitter stuff.

sounds like they were just goofing around but not a smart move in the public eye. I think Beauliu will be traded just because of the off ice issues that keep coming up. The Habs as an organization don’t like that type of thing at all

I’m afraid he is becoming a distraction here. He may have to be traded before his value goes down. He can thrive elsewhere. If he keeps it up with this stupidity, he will not last long here. We already had that problem with the tits.

Sounds stupid.
He is, of course, only 20. So we could wait another year or two before we chuck him under the bus.
We can also think back to when we were in college and how we always rigorously avoided doing anything stupid.

It started last year after Commodore was released from his Bulldog PTO. MC was on TV and Beaulieu took a picture of the screen and attached to twitter with a smart a$$ comment. They have been trash talking ever since.

Move along folks, nothing to see here. Seriously, people overreact to the most minor little things here.

This was clearly a case of a veteran who played with Beaulieu in Hamilton last year giving him a good old-fashioned ribbing via Twitter. If I remember correctly, Commodore was brought in as a big-brother type for Beaulieu. This is the kind of thing that vets do.

Someone else teasing Beaulieu via Twitter? Really? Stop over-analyzing everything Habs-related. This wasn’t a Seguin moment from Beaulieu. Beaulieu even got rid of his old stupid Twitter handle (N8theGr8) last year, so clearly he is given advice on what to do in social media. He didn’t say anything out of bounds here. It was just Commodore ribbing him.

Food for thought for these guys: apparently all Twitter messages are archived in the Library of Congress. So, future acne-ridden PHDers on SSHRCs can dig deep and read what Beaulieu and Seguin were typing up at the age of 21, at their early stages of their careers.

I think some people don’t realize that they aren’t just passing time with friends and forget that others are reading in. You can pretty well tell how your friends take your context but you can’t possibly guess the motives of random individuals.

Burmistrov left for the KHL due to his not getting along with the Jets organization. They still hold his NHL rights however. Would it be a good idea for the Habs to offer Winnipeg a trade to acquire his rights? It probably would cost us much at all.

Burmistrov actually came to NA to play junior so he could make the NHL, therefore I don’t think he would hesitate to come back under better circumstances.

Even if he didn’t come back for 2 years, he’s only 21 years old. If anything, it would lower his trade price even further. To me it seems like a no-risk/possibly high reward scenario. He’s got a lot of skill and good size to boot.

It could certainly seem like that, and maybe it really is that. I have no idea. The fact he came here to play junior suggests to me that he did want to play in the NHL otherwise he would have stayed close to home as a kid.

Not sure I’d lump him in with Radulov based on that alone.

Again, I’m just speculating with the minimal facts I have available to me.

Good readings with Mac Bennett’s blog and Pat Hickey’s piece on Leblanc etc. Good to hear Leblanc is coming along and focusing on positive… I like the fact that he is focusing on leg workouts. How many times did we see Benny Chickenlegs just get knocked over or lose his balance? I hope LL comes to fall camp with monster legs.

A few years ago, there was a piece on Gainey, and described one of his bedside books, something called ‘The Tipping Point’- where a small idea becomes the catalyst of a whole new direction etc. …. Well take a look at where we are, this small idea has lead us into a smurf phase..we are de facto in the last year of the second 5-year plan. Management did not have centres in the pipeline, so we went with a short term solution: DD as a holdover. Thankfully, we tanked hard and landed a lottery pick, plus some of the picks became NHLers (Subban, Gallagher, Tinordi etc). So, I hope one day we can forget about this smurf period.

I can tell my grandkids that HIO was once the land of smurf bitchin’, before we started another dynasty

Bulldogs sign former Moosehead Stephen Macauley. He won two Memorial Cups with Halifax and with St. John. He put up 62 points in 59 games this season. He is 6’2″, 185 lbs. Was drafted originally by the Blues in the sixth round. Another young depth signing for the Bulldogs.

So with a max roster size of 23 players. And the Habs currently at 22 players. Assuming White signs and takes us to 23 players.

Do we send Tinordi down to the AHL or start him in MTL?
Do we need make room (by sending down Tinordi or someone else or trade someone off the team) to call up another player? if so who?
Do we try to sign/aquire another player? Offense or defense?
Do you think Drewiske would clear waivers if we send him down to make even more room?

Gotta be some trades coming — and I can’t see Drewiske in a top-six role this year unless MB’s Plans A through M don’t work out. I’m happy with him as insurance in Hamilton, or in a pressbox role, but I’ve got to think MB is stockpiling forwards so he can deal one or more for some D. Some people are saying Plekanec will be the trade bait, but I can only see him going if he’s packaged with something to land a true #1 center or top-pairing D. Otherwise, I’d guess Desharnais is headed somewhere for a prospect/pick.

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

I am sure I will be in minority here, as usual, but I will not be heartbroken in Timmins left. Contrary to a popular belief I don’t think he did all that well in draft. I posted a link earlier with Habs draft choices since 2007 and 2007 was his best year. After that it’s pretty much a crap shoot since it is still unclear how guys like Beaulieu and Tinordi will pan out. (again, Galchenyuk was a no brainer).

I am curious how much input he had. With Gauthier controlling everything like a freek, I wonder if he influenced a lot of the decision making.
I doubt Timmons and his camp were to happy seeing McDonaugh for Gomez go

In other words, simply the best at least in quantity. His picks have played more NHL games in the past 10 years then any other team. 28 / 74 have played at least 1 game in the NHL so far and 18 played F/T in the NHL last season. The fact that most played on other teams should not reflect on Timmins.
Update: 17 / 74 played Juniors or NCAA and had not turned pro yet.

Forget about calling a smurf a smurf. I’d like to see a few of the HIO GM’s call out the big boys to their face. Then we’d see what a true HIO GM would look like. A. it would never happen. B. there would be a bunch of guys with stone white faces and giant yellow stripes running up and down their backs. C. they’d throw out their pad of paper and ask for an autograph while telling them to have a great season. I’m sure most of the HIO GM’s play on rec team where the small skilled guy wins the scoring title every year. I wonder why those small skilled guys are playing rec hockey?

I feel the same way — there are lots of tough guys out there, but not many who can also skate well, do better than 50% in the faceoff circle, play both center and the wing, play well defensively, and even kill penalties. He’s not much use in the offensive zone, but he’s indisputably a warrior, and he’ll be an excelllent fourth-liner if he can improve his judgment.

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

Agreed, Mike. My only beef with MT last year was his apparent meritocracy, which I was pleased with in theory, but he seemed to falsely award DD with a lot of preferential ice-time that I didn’t think was truly merited.

I can attribute a lot of apparently mysterious decisions to all the factors that simply aren’t public.

Keeping DD on the pp, however, was just bizarre. I do NOT subscribe to the influence of language in any way on such decisions, and have sometimes challenged posters here to provide evidence, never forthcoming.

Timo: c) agree, totally speculative. Also tend to agree that he was out-coached vs Ottawa. However, I don’t think his comments about the Eller hit were anything but genuine.

not sold on MT at this point, I think he handled PK poorly, further evident to the CH 24 series where he pulls him in between periods to tell him about not looking for the hit, which occurs about 50 times in a game. a tap on the shoulder after the shift would have sufficed. I guess we need to believe he didn’t know the cameras were running, MT trying to send a messages! please. I still don’t buy that we can coach big talent but hey, I will try to keep an open mind.

Relax everyone !
A good team requires several standard ingredients
A- two solid scoring lines
B- a two way, shutdown defensive line
C- a bruizing policeman line
D- good powerplay
E- good penalty killing
I think this habs version stacks up quite well
regardless of the pint sized forwards !
Don’t forget that specialty teams win hockey games !
Take a bow Daniel

Speaking as a total non-expert, I think a real key to teams’ success is having a roster full of players who can do either one thing at an elite level (e.g. score goals like Patrick Kane) or do several things at a high level (e.g. provide toughness and kill penalties). Shawn Thornton is a good example of a player that championship teams have — tough as nails and protects his teammates, but is also strong defensively and even kills penalties.

Along those lines, the only point I’d differ with you on is the bruising policemen line — I think we need multi-purpose guys on that line who can not only play physically but also fill other roles. That’s why I’m really hoping Ryan White gets his act together — he’s tough enough (and crazy enough) to give opponents pause, but he kills penalties, skates well, can play more than five minutes a game, and is pretty good in the faceoff circle, giving his coach many more options than, say, Parros does.

A fourth line of Prust, White and Moen could excel in this role — good wheels, solid defence, lots of grit, and the occasional scoring chance. To do this though, we need enough talent on the top three lines so that these guys aren’t asked to take regular top-nine shifts — something MB looks like he’s trying to address with Briere and possibly Jagr.

All this to say, I’m looking forward to seeing this team in the fall — especially if they can fix their issues on the blue line.

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

I wonder a little about Moen too — he doesn’t seem to have the same energy he did before this year, but I still like the role he plays, and I can see him as part of a fourth line that you’re not afraid to put on the ice for a defensive zone faceoff.

I just checked his ice time stats though, and last season he averaged just 11:39 a game. The season before, he averaged 15:42, and I think he was playing with more skilled linemates. I wonder if he seems more invisible to us because we just don’t see him as often?

Moen also had 82 hits in 45 games this year, 75 in 48 games the previous season, and 129 in 79 games the year before that, so he’s actually hitting more per game than he was when we loved him. That’s especially impressive when you consider that he’s getting more hits even though he’s playing 25% less minutes.

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

The Kid played hard and he was one of my favorites. I remember when he first hit the scene we played him in right field. There was no room behind the plate because we could not get Barry Foote out of our lineup.

Then there was a summer when Carter returned to the Spos and he rented a town house down the street from my home. He had his perm back then and I found it rather intimidating that he was now my neighbor. He owned a huge van that apparently had a kitchen and a bedroom inside.

did you know he was drafted as a shortstop and only started catching as a pro in the minor leagues??

I don’t know what will happen to TT but this story seems to be unconfirmed or even denied.
I do know TT when he became Chief Scout, was the youngest at that position and still is relatively young 11 years later. I DO KNOW he made the statement back then that his career goal was to become a GM and well it should be. Unfortunately because of his poor French skills, it will never be in Montreal.

Skillsy is not a pylon. He’s a little slow, but definitely not a pylon. I would absolutely take Skillsy back on the team and I think he would be a good pickup for a year. We could use what he brings and he could finish his career in Montreal (which is probably the only place he’s played where his skillset is actually appreciated).

Not sure about others, but I tend to ignore comments that don’t spell the names of our own players correctly. Its Gorges.
And DD isn’t amazing, but to say trade him for literally anything certainly undervalues him.
He’s not the best, but he also isn’t a complete scrub.

Bergevin said he was going to do it through trades not FA’s. He is waiting for the other GM’s to spend their money and get in Cap trouble so that MB can offer a $1.85 ml player for a $3.5 ml player or a $3.5 ml player for a $5 ml player. So hold your horses there cowboy!

Cheers HF. On the admittedly narrow basis of a single comparison — between the UFA signing ‘frenzy’ and the pre-playoffs trade deadline ‘frenzy’ — I look at the amounts spent and what was gained by both the Pens and Bruins and say, I hope MB ALWAYS does it his way, however much success he may have had this time round.

I know! All he’s done in the *three days* since free agency began is sign a big-ticket UFA, trade for a well-respected enforcer, sign four two-way contracts to bolster the Bulldogs where our future talent is being groomed, and trade for a fifth (Thomas) presumably for the same purpose.

Why hasn’t Plekanec, Price, and Subban been bundled into a package for negotiating rights with Jagr yet?!?!?!

Poor Jagr.. he’s been flogging that “mtl” rumour quite a bit.. it’s got serious play on TSN. Of course I dont know but I think it’s all coming from him to drive up his price. If Marinaro is right then Jagr’s probably gonna be unsigned for a long time.

They re-qualified him so he remains with the Habs. Not sure if he is eligible for arbitration or not. The re-qualifying offer is for a 7.5% wage increase over the previous year but that is not necessarily what they will settle on.

Experts,
How hard can it be to fix White? Most posters here have a lot of time for the kid, and his physicality is so valuable. But his faux-pas’ are a big liability. Shouldn’t coaches be able to fix that?

Some guys learn easier than others. I like White cuz he plays the game hard (both his effort and his style of play) and brings a few elements that are useful to our team, but if you’ve ever seen any of his interviews and heard him speak you’ll note that he isn’t the most….intelligent. I was trying to find a nicer way to say that as it’s not intended as an insult, but he’s a bit of a cement-head.

Thanks Mike. I must dig out some of those interviews.
What this suggests to me is that whatever kind of intelligence he doesn’t have must be compensated for with some other kind. The coaches need to identify that kind and coach him in a different way in order to capitalise on what he brings and minimise the liability.

Can you (or anyone) remember who it was he turned down for a fight? Late in the season, I think, after one of his extended residencies in the press box. He laid a beautiful, big, clean hit in one of our corners, the guy reacted, White laughed at him. I loved it. No penalty, other guy off his game with irritation. (vs Rangers by any chance?)

Unfortunately if they want to make a deal they might have to put one of them in it, but I think Tinordi is untouchable anyway. I agree with you I don’t want to get rid of Beaulieu mainly because he’s supposed to be another offensive d-man down the line, but he might be in a package.

Looking at earlier post and the word ‘Smurf’, I just want to point out that if the Habs could EVER put on a balanced line-up , you would never ear the phrase . So far this balance issue is still the problem and if left as is, the Tank is on.

Hey Dude, you must be foolin….right? Tank? If Price had been on his game last season the Habs would have been even better with the team they had. I would argue that they are better this year and if Price performs even 10% better than last year when the chips are down there will not even be a smell of tanking in the air. There’s a lot of talent on that team.

******************************************
I haven’t been wrong in a long time…..not feeling like today is the day.

Of the remaining UFAs out there: Brenden Morrow, Vinny Prospal, Dustin Penner, Hainsey and yes, even Ryan Whitney could help us this year.

My personal pick would be Prospal; he hasn’t played in the playoffs with Columbus lately, but he always finds ways to contribute in the post season. He’s at the age where 1-year deals are standard and IMO we could use the left wing depth.

Antropov wouldn’t play on the 4th line. He’s not really that type of player. He could be a decent addition to a 3rd line that’s expected to put some points up and we could certainly use his size, but unless we move someone out, I think we are full at forward.

I remember reading during the season how Prospal wanted to end his career in Columbus, so chances are they will sign him for a career ending contract with a low cap hit if they can unload salary elsewhere

The Laffs like to claim they are Canada’s team which even national polls commissioned by Toronto newspapers have proven to be bullcrap. Les Canadiens fans transcend borders and have an Universal appeal as the membership on HIO shows daily.

I’d love to try it, even for a year, but Habs are already at 22 players on the NHL roster with White left to sign. So the question is more who would you send down to make room for him (and who on the roster has a two way contract). Might come down to a numbers game, and I don’t mean dollars.

That has been rumored for awhile. Kid has speed and is a hard worker. He almost made the team last year. Expect the Bulldogs to sign 1-2 more along with the Habs doing the same. The two teams combined only have 13 D.

Being from PEI I have seen Ben Duffy play. The kid has skill and should play in the NHL someday. However he is listed at 5’9″ to 5’10” on most sites and under 180 lbs. Should we just tell him to forget his dream because most on here consider him to be a smurf?

Re Hainsey, I would certainly hope that they are not that petty. The other two listed are definitely out of the league but strong arguments could be made that their time was finished anyhow. Hainsey IMO certainly still has some hockey left in him.

Nice read Ben. Thanks for posting. I would include Cleary in the top free agents as well. 10 points in 14 playoff games in pretty clutch. I would have actually preferred Cleary to Briere as he would have been cheaper and is more physical (both are not hugely physical though)

I say bring back Ryan O’Byrne… I think he’s matured a bunch, physical and fairly good skater… something the blue just does possess. and probably fairly cheap and under the radar. We have a bunch of offensive PP guys need some in front of the net goalie protection. Could be a good fill for Emelin’s absense; who knows how long it’ll take him to get into skating form. IMO

Good Monday morning..so tired..these 2 am mornings are killing this old hag..but Eric Burdon rocked the house last night..excellent..and I got to drive them as well..so I guess it was worth it..off to my real job now and only 85 days to go to regular season..GO HABS GO

Having worked at a local radio station for a few years I got the chance to work on his show and while the face and body may have showed his age (not to mention a lifetime in rock and roll) his voice hasn’t changed at all. And what a nice guy. He seemed to be in a good place in his life and was just enjoying every minute of it. If anyone ever gets the chance to see him perform don’t pass up the chance. Lucky you, Mavid.

Spent last week reading blogger and Twitter reports coming out of the Prospect Development Camp and my impressions are;

GOAL – Condon was the best throughout the Camp. He is 23 and just finished his NCAA career.
– Fucale appeared nervous but showed flashes.
– Delmas looked like one of the top ECHL goaltenders which appears to be his peak.
– None of the try-outs impressed

DEFENSE – Tinordi totally dominated but not so much in the game.
– Beaulieu floated. So talented he toyed with the others when he felt like it but floated other times.
– Dietz / Ellis / Pateryn played their safe, steady unspectacular games
– Bennett has put on 10-15 lbs of upper body strength and still remained one of the best skaters on the ice. He will captain his NCAA team this season.
– Dieder continues to develop into a shot blocking stay at home D. Becoming a massive man mountain.
– Thrower was all over the place. Confidence seems to have gone.
– Nygren. There were not a lot of comments re him. Good or bad can’t say but surprised at the lack there of.
– Sullivan was injured and didn’t participate on ice.
– Of the try-outs. Some days this one looked good and the next meh! None jumped out above the others to get an NHL contract offer.

FORWARDS – Collberg dominated all week and Nystrom paced him which made him the surprise of the camp.
– McCarron impressed with his massive size. His skating and hockey skills better then most were anticipating but still needs work.
– Andrighetto and Reway looked nervous. Showed flashes.
– De La Rose came as advertised. Big fast and some skill. Apparently was playing through an injury and didn’t play the game.
– Bozon impressed with his size but not with his work…seemed to be not with it.
– Bournival was his usual self. Never stopped working but not spectacular.
– Gregoire was tentative at times and a maxi-me Bournival at his best moment. Needs work.
– Fournier played his power forward game. Has size and drives for the net. But his skating is poor and one comment was that his contract was not based on his camp performance.
– Duffy like the rest of the try-out forwards was pretty much invisible during the camp but he exploded in the game. One of them (Shaw) apparently hit everything that moved throughout the camp. Had good straight away speed but had the turning radius of a jumbo jet from one wag. General census was that none stood out to earn a contract.
– Crisp, Nattinen and Lekhonen were injured and didn’t do on ice activities.
– Vail, Hudon and Holland played their game. Some disappointed that Hudon didn’t perform at a higher level. Other report that when playing with Collberg he was better.
– MacMillian didn’t look that good. Maybe he was off skates too long.
– Cichy and Walsh pretty much invisible and looks like adios.
– Quailler was quiet until the Friday scrimmage when he exploded for 2G + 1A.
– Thomas came as advertised… fast, loves to shoot and can take a hit. In the game Tinordi took him out in the corner hard… except Tinordi stayed in the corner as Thomas jitter bugged out with the puck to have a great scoring chance.
– Leblanc like Beaulieu was felt to have floated. It was pointed out by a couple bloggers that if Bergevin was in the stands he looked good but floated when he wasn’t. Make or break time for Louie.
– Again as mentioned earlier, none of the try-outs stood out. At times some looked good and then meh.

WRT to Jagr, I don’t blame him for chasing the money. I don’t think many of us would leave a million dollars on the table just choosing between one team or another. No matter where he signs, he will end up on a Cup contending team. Either the team he chooses makes it, or he gets dealt at the deadline like he did this year. Either way, he is gonna play for a good team in the playoffs, so why leave money on the table? This could be his last chance to make big money.

If the Habs really want him, they will have to pay because I’m pretty sure someone else will.

wjc says:
“….Detriot has not won, one Stanley cup in 10 years, they have begun their slide out of the playoffs for a while, sooner then people may think.”
————
If you call a slide winning 2 Stanley Cups in the past 11 years (4 Cups in the last 16 years) – Losing a Cup final – losing in a 7 game OT this year to the eventual Cup winning Hawks…sorry if I don’t see that as a slide.
In those 11 years they have won 23 playoff series and lost only 12.

The last time Detroit didn’t qualify for the playoffs was….1990

Datsyuk (34) and Zetterberg (32) still have some great years ahead and their D is aged between 24-32 (Kronwall) and goalie Jimmy Howard is only 29.

Detroit is a 1st class organization and one of the preferred American city landing spots.
Holland has a way to always make things happen….either via a trade or the UFA market.

The case for Hudon as an A-level prospect….I’m not committed one way or another! After a player’s been drafted, I always miss having those in-depth insights into a player’s ability and shortcomings…. so I’ll try and make one based on what I recall from watching him. I’ll average out the size and weight as they never seem to be in agreement across the internet.

He’s an absolutely top-notch offensive player, very creative, hard-working and he’s got a good set of physical tools. His on-ice play making and quick hands are very noticeable on the ice and set him apart from his peers. He plays well defensively but seriously needs to add more mass so as to better establish himself along the boards, in front of the net and on the forecheck. His skating has improved from his draft year and, with some work, I feel that can end up being a strength of his, even in the NHL. He really struggles with staying healthy but I feel these injurie concerns (concussion, back problems) can be mitigated by increased strength, conditioning and self-awareness on the ice. He can get caught over-analyzing the play and put himself in bad positions for hits. This is a character-kid who brings a lot of maturity and leadership, Bergevin will likely give him all the chances in the world to prove himself.

I have a couple reasons why I’m wary of putting Hudon as an A-level prospect. His size, his injury history and the fact that his level of play didn’t grow as much as I hoped it would in his third QMJHL year. He became a more polished player but, I expected more of an offensive impact from him (Maybe my expectations are a little high, he was well over a ppg ;)). He showed himself to be capable of playing in the AHL and outshone many of the Bulldogs players when he was called up but, there will always be question marks for smaller players drafted in the 5th round. He’s a big surprise but I’m not sure if he’s made the jump to A-level yet. If he can gain some weight, have a strong showing at the WJCs and increase his output from last year, I will most definitely change my mind.

He’s still a little bit too much of a long-shot prospect to be considered A-level but, he’s a player to keep an eye on, cheer for at the WJCs and be excited for!

G’morning all. I urge everyone to read the article about Brière linked near the bottom of the comments. Let’s try to remember that hockey players are humans, and there are things driving their performance and decisions which are not simple, and are certainly not things any of us know about.

Unless somebody here at HIO is one of Daniel Brière’s best friends, all of the conjecture over his “snubbing” of the Habs is pure garbage. Maybe his agent makes the deals…?

Second thing I’d like to say: let’s stop with the smurf nonsense. Didn’t we see a diminutive player in Gallagher step up last year and become a sparkplug for the Habs? And didn’t we see a big guy in Moen pretty much disappear? Size matters, yes, but not more than skill or determination.

Third and final: why so effing negative about the 2013-14 Habs? All I read is, “Habs are going to suck this coming season. We’re gonna get killed by the Detroit Dinosaurs and the Toronto Bullies.” I’m going to maintain my optimism, and will hope that the team I adore and support is able to have a good season.

You don’t have to turn your scowls upside down, but at least relax those facial muscles.

I agree with your comments about player size. It’s become an obsession of the media and the fans. It would be great if every Hab was 6’05”, but you need someone to put the puck in the net at some point. NHL games are still decided by the number of goals scored and not the number of hits and fights.

Agree on the size thing. Plekanec is 5’11”, 198 lbs, which is easily average size for a forward in the NHL. He almost never gets knocked of the puck due to his quickness and hockey IQ. Any big defenseman who over-commits to a check will get burned badly more often than not. Calling him a smurf or saying that his lack of size is an issue offensively is ridiculous, yet he often ends up on the list of small forwards for the Habs by posters around here.

Even for the undersized players, they are extremely difficult to knock off the puck due to their quickness and low centre of gravity. Guys like Gionta and Gallagher go to the net better than most forwards in the league of any size, but they get called smurfs around here. So ignorant and disrespectful to the team you are supposed to support.

The only problem I have with small players is if you have too many of them. It makes it tough for the coach to juggle the lines and find favourable match ups. Three small players on one line may have trouble defending in their own end, for example.

However, having all big players would be just as bad. Centres like Crosby and Giroux would be licking their chops if the Habs matched them up with three big forwards, as they would exploit their lack of quickness in transition and in the offensive zone. That’s why having a guy like Plekanec is so valuable. He may not match up well defensively against an Eric Staal, but he is one of the few centres in the league who can keep up with the likes of Crosby and Giroux defensively.

Fucale, oh oh
Fucale, oh oh oh oh
Welcome to the madhouse crowds
They will prosecute you, vowed
We will diss the glow of your star that I know of
Where goalies don’t enjoy peace of mind
Let us welcome confusion and all disillusion will find
Just like birds of a feather, a booing eventually to find

Suffice to say I think Tyler Seguin has proven in short order why the Bruins decided to move in a different direction. If the kid smartens up, he can be quite a talent, if not he could waste some of his younger years in the league.

his account got hacked. no one would be that stupid to put out a comment like that after being traded. People should learn a lil about creating a good password for their account and not leaving their phone unattended too so someone can post on their behalf. it’s fun and games when it’s in a closed group of friends but a lil worse when you’re a rpo atheete.

You have to remember these players are kids. i doubt boston traded him because he liked to party or was immature; alot of the team would have to be traded for that. They signed him to a 5.7m a year contract and needed to make cap space.

Apparently he was partying late during the first series against the Leafs, showing up in the same clothes 3 consecutive days and already tweeted a homophobic remark in April which he apologized for after the fact

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“How would you like a job where when you made a mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?” -Jacques Plante

Is that what I said as well? Didn’t see it that way, Chelios was older than Seguin by quite a few years at time of trade, and a trade I did not like. Also, I didn’t say I supported the Bruin trade, but merely pointing out that the rumours were out that the team was frustrated with his maturity and his immediate trade party seemed to only further this reputations. I do believe I went on to mention how good this young kid can still be.

I would be happy if our team had a talent like Kane on the team, and I also think people like Mellanby and Lapointe in our Player development would help in those instances.

I am sure you were talking about Seguin, but there are very strong parallels.
There is absolutely nothing special in what Seguin did. Partied? Come on. Twitter BS. Oh, what a scandal.
To me, all that is way, way smaller stuff compared to Patrick Kane or even Nathan Bealieu.

I don’t remember anyone calling a 5’11”-190 lbs guy a smurf.
As for his 1 goal, you omitted to mention he only played 17 games.
In his past 3 seasons he had 28-21-20 goals and in his playoff appearance the year before last, he had 3 goals and 5 points in 7 games.
I think Holland knows what he’s doing….

With respect, I realize that this thread contains of sardonicism and irony on the subject of Smurfs and criticism of Habs for signing “smaller” players, so not trying to suggest you are advocating for the “everyone below 5’11” is a Smurf” crowd. There are far too many dismissive reactions based on insane arbitrary declarations (which I assume wjc was lampooning).

But I cannot count the number of times in the last 3 years or so that the 5’11” 196lb Tomas Plekanec has been referred to among the “Smurfs” that make this team too small. At the same time you will hear the same people saying that a player who is 6’1″ and the same weight has size. To which I would ask “What makes two inches magic?” (that’s what the girlfriend said last night)

Also, how many times that at the (now) ripe old age of 30.5 years Plekanec has been written off as too old (often in discussions about trading him for a player who is maybe two years younger).

Most of us who are not the MOAR BIGGER crowd understand the mix of players a club can and probably should contain, and that draft picks themselves are not salvation. You need some actual top 6 players to play now and you don’t just throw that away because they will get old in a few years or are 2 inches shorter than some arbitrary number.

Hi Neuman
Exactly and agreed.
It;s almost unbelievable how Plex gets thrown to the dogs.
With the exceptions of Pitt/LA, it would be difficult to name another NHL team where he would not be the 2nd line center including Chicago.(Plex over Bolland and Handzus anytime)

Changes are needed! Sure everyone needs changes. The Bruins made big changes and went to the SCF and won 2 years ago. The Habs are in a very good position. They have a wealth of very good young D coming up and some very good forwards coming in over the next few years. The bad news is we may be a few years away before seeing the results. The good news is we will have the tools old and new a few years from now to make some moves. WHY! They can’t all play on the big club. Some think we drafted too heavy on D over the last few years. WELL if you look at this years UFA and team need that WAS NOT available its was all D. What do we have plenty of coming up? D!!!! In a few years we will have plenty of bait to land good players.

BTW – who did you want Vinny at 5 years? Too much too long and not enough return. Who else was out there. If Horton couldn’t handle Boston what makes you think he could handle Montreal? Who else? Ya we need size but size will come as well. Tenordi will make the team. When Emelin comes back that will be a huge improvement on the BL. Perros won’t score goals but he’ll be able to play a few shifts / period and keep things tame and give Brandon some time to do what he should do. Briere was brought in to help the PP not for his 5 on 5 and that he will do. I won’t be surprised if we do see a trade but it may come in the likes of Moen if he continues to play lethargically and maybe Markov if he doesn’t show signs of improvement defensively as the season progresses. Both can add value to a team in the late run for the playoffs or insurance during a run.

Can’t help noticing that Detriot Red Wings have only won 1 Stanley cup in the last 10 years.

What did Detriot do during last weeks Free Agent frenzy, they signed 40 year old, injury prone, best years behind him Alfredson.

To add to 39 year old Betuzzi.

Thats it ? “Thats all”, I retort ? One year contract, how does that address the lack of playoff success the last 5 years.

Should the G.M. be fired? Should the owner take steps to relieve the coach of his duties, after all where are the Stanley cup parades.

Has Detriot lost there mojo, by resorting to Alfredson. A 40 year old often injured, best years behind him player.

What do the Canadiens do, sign a 35 year old Briere, that has had injury issues. A playoff performer for sure and dangerous on the power play, and a mentor perhaps for the younger players. They sign him to a whole two years……are they mad.

By the way Steven Wiess is a smurf who scored 1 goal for Florida last year!

I happened to hear Jimmy Devellano on my drive into work this morning, on TSN 1050. I am sure there is a way to find the interview. I would strongly suggest listening to it, he explains in detail why the team made the moves they did.

Also remember, they only gave Alfie a 1 year contract, they are not asking him to be a long term solution to anything.

Essentially Filpula looking at UFA contract rewards forced their hand with Weiss, and they simply felt Alfie would be a nice fit on their top line, as they plane on playing him with Datysuk and Zetterberg.

You know I am not against the signing. I am just saying that other teams do the same things as the Canadiens and the Canadiens bet criticized to death.

I like the Biere signing, have no problem with it. I think you and I are on the same page on that one. Just trying to make a point to some to the others on here. Just went through the back door to make it.

I’m real happy to hear that Louis looked good in dev. camp; I thought he had great skating ability and play-making skills when he was called up in previous seasons. Thought he had Pleky’s style (something about the way he strides and stick-handles), and I hope to see him in uniform.

Go, Louis!

“The Prustean Age” – The era when the “soft” mammals gave way to the carapace-covered creatures carrying sticks and mashing it up in corners and net-crashing and laughing in the face of the “hockey gods.”

The headline is misleading. It never really commented on ow he looked .. ustthat he scored. I think the reason that his name is front and centre is because he gave an interview and is ‘recognizable’. Absolute fluff. Read it again and the link… not one indication of his work at camp.

Eh, fair enough; all I’m saying is that I’d like to see Louis in a jersey – err, that is, a Habs jersey.

“The Prustean Age” – The era when the “soft” mammals gave way to the carapace-covered creatures carrying sticks and mashing it up in corners and net-crashing and laughing in the face of the “hockey gods.”

The reality is that Pleks is overused anyway and always fades at the end of the year so by the time the playoffs come around, he’s running on fumes. They need to cut his minutes down or trade him while he likely has great value.

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Me skull and crossbones arn’t the only thing I plan on raisin’ tonight.

eller is not a #1 center… lol if anything galchenyuck is, hell we drafted him 3rd over all maybe we should be playing him a bit more than 11 minutes a game…. but sure let’s let him develop playing 3rd line minutes.

toews, kane, crosby, malkin, hall, and a bunch of other high round picks are given the minutes to play and learn. why are we protecting our potential best player from playing in an offensive role lol.

but it’s alright eller is a #1 center now. that my friend is why detroit doesn’t miss the playoffs and why montreal may be a playoff bubble team.

Maritime Ron nails it again: I think it’s ridiculous to trade Pleky at this point – and, yes, he’s been overtaxed with tough minutes (playing opposing team’s top lines, PK, etc.). Consider how well he played in 2008: he was NOT in that top centre role, and he thrived as a result. And yeah, Ron: give the kids more time – they thrive, Pleky thrives, and everyone’s bloody happy!

“The Prustean Age” – The era when the “soft” mammals gave way to the carapace-covered creatures carrying sticks and mashing it up in corners and net-crashing and laughing in the face of the “hockey gods.”

One of the questions left unanswered about Danny Briere choosing Montreal this time around – when several reports had him being offered more term and money, was WHY now?

While from the outside the life or an NHL hockey player appears to be all about celebrity and wealth, they are not immune to the curveballs life can throw.

Over and above the 2 concussions and other injuries Briere suffered, he experienced a divorce a few years back where 3 children (11-14) were involved…and perhaps equally or more important, he lost his 63 year old mother just last summer to a brain hemorrhage.

Six years ago when Briere was 29 and allegedly snubbed the Habs for the Flyers, that was a different life and situation.

Today, unless he hooked up with the Madoffs of the world, money should not be an object for him.

Maybe, just maybe, Briere wanted to come home – to be close to his family and some of his long time youth best friends – To have his children get close to his family roots.
For one, I welcome Briere back and wish him great luck.

Not looking for him to be an All-Star but he’ll definitely fill a hole. I read it somewhere that his previous wife might have been a major factor in putting the kibosh on him joining the Habs instead of the Flyers…no idea if that’s true.

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Me skull and crossbones arn’t the only thing I plan on raisin’ tonight.

Captain.
One thing certain in today’s NHL world is that the woman partner has a huge say as to landing spot – especially for top Tier I/II UFAs because of the choices available.
To some degree, partners of Tier III UFAs have less influence as it becomes a question of maintaining life$tyle.

maybe philly offered more money…
maybe philly had a better team…
maybe philly had an organization he liked better

Look when he signed that last contract he was in the prime of his career. Come to montreal and you’ll have to be the saviour. Now the expectations are different for one and maybe he just wanted to come home. but stop with this snubbing of montreal already.

G’mornin’, Morning Crew! Just getting excited about our prospects and the future of the organization. There was lots of talk yesterday about how great our group of young players are. Not to take away from them as they are an incredible group of players but, we really overlooked how outstanding our prospect pool is at the moment. VERY few teams have anything resembling the skill, balance or depth we have. We covered a lot of weaknesses with this last draft and we’ve come out with a very polished-looking group of players. I will repeat, most other teams do NOT have prospect pools like this.

Looking at how Hudon was faring on Team Canada before he got injured… he was right up there with Drouin. Both were outsiders looking in and were by many accounts the two best players coming out of the camp to crack the team.

Hudon got injured (I hope it stops being a recurring story) and Drouin went on to make the all tournament team and got drafted third overall.

I don’t get high on prospects. Most are unproven and don’t make any noise in the NHL. Many are years away from starting or the Habs do what they did with Fischer and Kristo. Waste time.
With a little luck, the Habs may actually get a couple of these guys to contribute some day.
Habs this season do not look good. Changes are needed.

There’s a difference between getting excited about prospects and having expectations for prospects. Based on who we have as prospects and how many we have at a certain level, we are more likely to get lucky and have them contribute than most teams in the NHL, that’s what’s exciting.

“Habs this season do not look good. Changes are needed.” Definitely, it’ll be interesting to see which direction our team goes in in the next couple of years.

a repost from an earlier thread; didn’t realize a new one was up
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I like the way you think. Its easy to get down on the way the Habs drafted because our “Christmas lists” weren’t filled up. I sure hope they filled up theirs. All we can do is enjoy the ride while we appreciate the talent and skill that is there.

One of the best parts about following the prospects is the hope, possibility and optimism that comes with it. It seems as if there is only one way to go; an upward trajectory. And that’s pretty exciting. These kids are living out the dream; and that’s pretty dandy too.

1) Big ask. If the Habs are out of the playoffs, I could see it. Otherwise Eller will need to take over his all rounder game for that to happen. And Chucky will need to replace him on offence at least in part.

2) As Patches goes so does DD. I think those two are locked at the hip. One bounces back and the other will too. But they’ll need to adjust their game. The opposition has… I think they will. They’ve got enough skill and other guys will help take the load.

3) I hope so. With Yemmy out and no replacement in sight… It could get ugly unless Tinordi or Beaulieu or Pateryn make a huge jump.

4) Waite will make it happen. I agree.

5) He’s going to be difficult to trade but guys like Pateryn are knocking on the door. His salvation might be Tinordi turning into a second Hal Gil on the PK. That would be something…

6) I would imagine most are. It’s a crazy fast game. St Louis’ legs in the SI issue were speed skater huge. To keep up with those guys you’d need to get up early and eat your vitamins…

1. Pleks must be dealt so the Habs can get some kind of quality in return. I think MB signed Briere because of the Quebecois factor.
2. DD looked very slow last season. If he is still that slow in September, the Habs have wasted some pretty decent money on a non-factor.
3. Agreed.
4. Can’t see Price being anything but middling to good. He hasn’t shown that he’s ready to be a #1. With the stupid contract extension, Habs are stuck with him.
5. $3.9mil for a shot blocker with no offensive skills and can’t clear the net. I hear he’s good in the room and spouts all kinds of clichés to reporters.
6. No kidding, eh? One year left on mighty mite’s contract. If Habs sign him again, we must accept the fact that Habs management is insane.

He’s been our #1 goalie for 3 freakin’ seasons. He isn’t a Vezina candidate, but he’s better than most teams’ #1s. I mean would you rather have Nabokov, Dubnyk or Lindback?
Come on, just because he doesn’t match your high expectations doesn’t mean he is not a no.1 goalie in NHL. He is.

Hate to tell ya, Slovak, but Price definitely is NOT better than a whole lot of goalies in the NHL. #9 in wins. #50 in save % (even taking away goalies that didn’t play that much this is a telling stat.) #43 in GAA.
Expectations have to be pretty low to think those numbers are that of a #1.

I’m not being positive or negative about Price. I don’t care who our goalie is. But the truth is he is our current #1 goalie, and that’s the point I was making.
Because you said “He hasn’t shown that he’s ready to be a #1.”
He has been that for a while.

My point is not about his salary – this is your emotional charge on him, based on your hopes, dreams and projections. This is not the point I was making at all.

1) Briere will not replace Plekanec’s 2-way play, ever. He is terrible defensively, although could come close in scoring. 2 completely different players.

2) If Plekanec is replaced by Briere, DD can no longer hide in favourable matchups and offensive zone starts. Because Briere needs even more sheltering. Yeah, that’s what we need: 2 one-dimensional centres instead of one. People are blind not seeing that 2-way play is an absolute key to success in NHL. All they see is height, weight and amount of points scored.

3) Unless there is someone available (there isn’t), you can keep dreaming Habs will sign a “minute eater”. Double-check the remaining UFAs again before you put your hopes up.

I guess I’m looking for Eller to step the two-way game…he was our best C by the end of the year. You’re right that DD isn’t great defensively but if he gets it going again on O, it won’t be noticed as much. Maybe a guy like Dumont will step up his two-way game. Liked what I saw last year. I think we have a few guys coming up who could be shut down C in the NHL, but we ain’t got too much NHL ready size on the wing.

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Me skull and crossbones arn’t the only thing I plan on raisin’ tonight.

Eller – for sure. He’s definitely someone who can play in 3 zones and take on top opposition.
However the elite of the east has 2 strong lines, at least. You have Krejci line and Bergeron line. 2 Stall brothers. Malkin/Crosby etc…

We can’t just ice a team with one center able to take on a top competition.

Secondly, who plays on PK? You can’t expect Eller to put up 55 points while playing PK minutes and taking on 1st lines night in and night out, starting in defensive zone.
That’s we also need more than one 2-way centre that can play against the best. And that’s not DD, White, Dumont (I mean, come on) or Briere. Not even Galchenyuk yet. He needs time to be that.

I am all in favour of a bigger role for Eller and he and Plekanec are my favourite current Habs.

But as others here have pointed out before, trading Plekanec would leave a Plekanec sized hole. Even assuming that Eller is ready to fill that, you have still traded your best 2 way forward and effectively replaced him on the roster with a 36 year old who cannot play defense to save his life. You then have two lines you have to shelter – unless you want to play Desharnais and Briere on the same line, which seems suicidal.

Trading Plekanec only makes sense if the return is huge and fills a specific need. Yes, he is among the players with the most value on the trade market, but likely has more value actually on the team.

1) Plex isn’t going anywhere until the Habs are sure that Eller and Galchenyuk can be #1-2 Centers – maybe another year or if we get offered something we just can’t refuse.
2) Maybe
3) Hopefully
4) Gorges never took the easy out and was left unprotected last year. They’ll adjust. They had better.
5) Gio is gone at the deadline if he stays healthy

Intrasquad game was interesting to say the least and Duffy certainly made the most out of it.
Fournier was a joy to watch. Twice in penalty box, crashed the net nose first and remained on ice for face just to crash again. Heart of a lion ? I don’t know. Certainly one of a honey badger.
Nystrom and Collberg seemed to just click. BigMac made a Tiny out of Jarred. But my revelation is C Thomas. I’m probably over optimistic, but I saw shades of B Marchand without the rattitude. And the wheels on Bennett !!! Can’t wait for September if they still have stuff open for public, best believe I’m there.